Sharda
An Indian feminine name meaning "the one who provides happiness and peace".
Name Census estimates that about 586 living Americans carry the first name Sharda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sharda today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sharda births was 1986 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sharda. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
586
~ 1 in 584,905 Americans
Peak year
1986
111 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2008 SSA rank
#17,167
Tracked since 1979
Census
Sharda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,557 people with the first name Sharda, which placed it at #9,090 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,090
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,557 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sharda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharda is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and White (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Sharda described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Sharda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander48.2% · 750
- Black or African American33.7% · 525
- White12.8% · 199
- Two or more races2.8% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 15
Popularity
Sharda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sharda from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 347 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sharda by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Sharda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shardas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Michigan, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Sharda, while North Carolina, Louisiana, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sharda
The name Sharda has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the linguistic vehicle for many of the philosophical and religious texts of India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "sharda," which means "autumn" or "the season of harvest." This name is often associated with the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, and wisdom, who is also known as Sharada or Sharda Devi.
In Hindu mythology, Sharda Devi is revered as the consort of Lord Shiva and is often depicted as a beautiful woman seated on a lotus, holding a manuscript or a veena (a stringed instrument) in her hands. Her name is mentioned in various ancient Hindu texts, including the Puranas and the Devi Mahatmya, which celebrate her as the embodiment of learning and the bestower of knowledge.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sharda can be traced back to ancient India, where it was commonly given to girls in honor of the goddess. Over the centuries, the name has been popular among Hindus, particularly in regions like Bengal, Assam, and parts of northern India.
One of the earliest notable historical figures with the name Sharda was Sharda Devi (c. 9th century CE), a renowned philosopher and poet who lived in Kashmir. She is credited with writing several works on Shaivism, a major tradition within Hinduism.
Another prominent figure was Sharda Kumari Devi (1865-1944), a Bengali writer and social reformer who fought for women's education and advocated for the abolition of the dowry system in India.
In the field of music, Sharda Sinha (1914-1975) was a celebrated Indian classical vocalist and educator who made significant contributions to the Benaras gharana (a stylistic tradition) of Hindustani classical music.
Sharda Kabir (1941-2021) was a prominent Indian actress who appeared in numerous Bollywood films and television shows, earning critical acclaim for her versatile performances.
More recently, Sharda Raman (born 1964) is an Indian-American physicist and aerospace engineer who has worked on several NASA missions, including the Mars Exploration Rover and the Curiosity rover.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Sharda, a name that is deeply rooted in the cultural and spiritual heritage of India and continues to hold significance for its connection to the goddess of knowledge and wisdom.
People
Sharda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sharda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sharda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sharda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 586 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sharda going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 584,905 US residents.
Is Sharda a common name?
We classify Sharda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 613 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sharda most popular?
The single biggest year for Sharda was 1986, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sharda is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sharda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,557 people with the name Sharda, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,090 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Sharda in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Sharda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sharda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,560 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Sharda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sharda is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (33.7%) and White (12.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Sharda most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sharda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (750 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Sharda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sharda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sharda in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Sharda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sharda in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Sharda can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Sharda?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Sharda at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.